Rick Jackson will join Trump at Georgia rally amid slumping GOP turnout

Republican nominee for governor Rick Jackson has reversed course and will attend President Donald Trump’s Saturday rally in Perry after initially planning to skip it to campaign with Gov. Brian Kemp instead.

Jackson’s campaign said Friday that the billionaire healthcare executive will attend both the previously scheduled stop with Kemp in Cherokee County and the Trump rally in Perry.

Just days earlier, his campaign cast the decision to skip Trump’s rally as a strategic “force multiplier” move to energize voters in another important Republican stronghold.

The about-face comes amid growing GOP anxiety over sluggish early voting in rural Georgia, raising the stakes for Jackson as he scrambles to mobilize supporters in a tight race against Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms.

It also puts Jackson’s political balancing act in sharper focus: He needs Trump’s loyal supporters to turn out in force without alienating swing voters who have soured on the president.

For Jackson, the urgent need to energize the GOP base may be outweighing the political risks of sharing a stage with a president whose approval ratings are underwater with most likely Georgia voters.

Jackson’s campaign on Friday characterized the change as simply working out the logistics to attend both events.

“We can confirm that after working out the logistics, Rick will now be able to attend both his rally with Governor Kemp in Cherokee and the president’s rally in Perry,” Jackson spokesperson Garrison Douglas said.

Early turnout is lagging in stretches of deep-red rural Georgia, and Republicans worry that Democrats could build an insurmountable edge in advance voting.

It’s a concern Jackson has acknowledged himself on the campaign trail. At a rally in Calhoun on Wednesday, he said he was “concerned that rural Georgia still thinks we’re red” and is growing complacent.

“We have to overperform in rural Georgia, or we’re not going to win. It is that important,” he said.

Bottoms said at a campaign stop in Atlanta on Thursday that Jackson can’t escape his ties with Trump regardless of whether he joins him at the rally.

“He’s already closely aligned himself with Trump,” she said. “He gave Trump $2 million in the midst of the Republican primary in Georgia.”

‘Favorite governor’

Jackson spent much of the Republican primary promising to become Trump’s “favorite governor” before pivoting to emphasize his ties to Kemp after winning the nomination.

Now he’s counting on Trump to help fire up the party’s base while leaning on Kemp’s appeal to mainstream Republicans and moderates to broaden his coalition.

His remarks at Trump’s rally last week in Dalton showcased that approach.

Before the president arrived, Jackson praised Kemp from the stage without once mentioning Trump’s name. And when Trump later called him up during his speech, Jackson offered a measured tribute for his work on foster care — rather than repeat his earlier pledge to govern like Trump with a “Southern tone.”